Communique - CNDR's Newsletter
Fall 2011

Chinese Negotiation Characters

Visiting practitioners and scholars Andrew Wei-Min Lee and Vivian Ying Yu Feng from Beijing presented to students and faculty in September on Chinese negotiation characters and what they say about Chinese attitudes toward negotiation.   The presentation began with Andrew and Vivian preparing the Chinese characters for mediation, negotiation and compromise.  While Andrew prepared the ink on a traditional ink stone, Vivian painted the characters onto rice paper.

Chinese characters are logograms, which represent words and/or morphemes.  Chinese characters constitute the oldest continuously-used system of writing in the world, originating around 2650 BC.  In the 1950s and ‘60s the government of the People’s Republic of China adopted a simplified version of these characters, which resulted in future generations losing touch with the origin and meaning of the symbols that they represent.  For instance, the character for "negotiation" contains multiple symbols.  The left side of the upper symbol contains the radical for “speech.” On the rights side, the pictogram for “fire” is repeated twice.  The symbol below contains an ideogram of an item on the left, perhaps a goat, being carved in two (the vertical stroke being the “slash” of the knife). On the right, there is a pictogram of a blade.  Hence, the characters for negotiation come from “talking around a fire” so that we can “split something into two pieces.”

Another symbol explored by Andrew and Vivian was the one for “compromise”.  The top character has an upper and lower part. The upper part represents a hand and is an ideogram for “placing” or “sending.” The lower part is the radical for female, derived from the pictogram of a woman nursing a child. The thinking behind this character is the act of “sending one's daughter away to a rival in order to forge a bond.” In ancient times, the daughter of one “tribe” would often be married to the son of another tribe, thus linking the two tribes as one.  The character at the bottom is a heavily simplified pictogram of two dogs using a lot of strength to do something together.  Hence, the characters for compromise come from the idea of giving up something highly treasured, to help you and me to work strongly in the same direction.

Andrew hopes that a deeper appreciation of Chinese characters and their embedded cultural history may offer insights into traditional cultural norms and values, not just for Westerners, but also for Chinese people. “In China, we are reading newspapers, checking the internet and sending off e-mails every day - but how much do we really consider the wisdom and history behind the characters we use, read, type and write?”  As Andrew concluded, the world is becoming increasingly smaller and interest in cross-cultural negotiation is increasing.  A deeper appreciation of Chinese characters and their embedded cultural history may offer insights into traditional cultural norms and values, and ultimately lead to better cross-cultural negotiations.

Andrew is a Weinstein Fellow with the JAMS Foundation, and is studying in San Francisco to develop ADR pedagogy in China.  He is founder and CEO of Leading Negotiation Institute, a Beijing-based firm specializing in negotiation training and public policy consensus building in China.  Vivian is Vice President and Director of the Executive Ambassador Program at Leading Negotiation Institute.  They both also lecture at Peking University Law School.

Prison of Peace

In October, CNDR was pleased to invite attorney and mediator Laurel Kaufer to come to UC Hastings and speak about her work in Prison of Peace.  Prison of Peace is a pro bono project Laurel and Doug Noll founded as a result of a letter she received from Susan Russo, an inmate serving a life sentence at Valley State Prison for Women (VSPW) in Chowchilla, CA.  In 2009 Susan wrote Laurel, "This is an environment filled with conflict and violence.  Mediation interests all of us because we are lifers and long-termers hoping to make a difference in teaching our peers that there is a better way."  What happened next is truly inspirational. 

Still at the mailbox, Laurel called her friend and fellow mediator Doug Noll and enlisted him to help her to help the women in Chowchilla.  Together, they laid out a customized curriculum that included mediation training and restorative justice with an emphasis on developing deep interpersonal communications skills.  Laurel and Doug needed to lobby the VSPW Warden repeatedly for six months before being granted access to the inmates.

Participants were selected based primarily on length of sentence, with a preference for those serving life without possibility of parole, and quality of answers to a 7 question application.  Each participant was required to participate in class, practice the techniques and processes outside of class, write up their experiences and turn in weekly assignments, conduct 5 peace circles, and observe 2 peace circles. If participants continue with the mediation training, they were required to conduct 3 mediations and observe 2 mediations and write up their experiences and observations. All participants worked with an inmate mentor/coach. The sessions lasted 3 months, during which 15 inmates participated.

The women in Prison of Peace have experienced dramatic personal transformations. Prison of Peace has allowed them to discover or re-discover their own humanity, become aware of their own emotions, and begin to understand and reflect back the emotions of others. By learning peacemaking and mediation skills, they were taught how people evade personal accountability and how to morally re-engage those who have become morally disengaged. As a byproduct, they naturally have re-engaged themselves morally.

In addition, there has been a qualitative shift in personal interactions in the inmate population. To date, there has been no reported violence involving any inmates certified as peacemakers or mediators. Personal arguments have reportedly reduced in quantity and intensity. Peacemakers and Mediators have been able to de-escalate and resolve conflicts among fellow inmates and between inmates and staff. To date, inmates have provided written reports documenting the completion of over 35 full Mediations, as well as numerous conflicts averted.

In recognition of their pioneering work, the first 15 women trained as Peacemakers and Mediators, were awarded the Southern California Mediation Association Cloke/Millen Peacemaker of the Year Award for 2010.

In December 2010, 75 mostly life and long term inmates were trained as Peacemakers and more than 30 were certified as Mediators.  In 2011 Prison of Peace plans to train 20 long term and life inmates as instructors, mentors and coaches to make the project internally self-sustaining.  To find out how you can help support Prison of Peace, visit their website: www.prisonofpeace.org

U.S. State Department Delegation Visits CNDR

The U.S. State Department specifically listed UC Hastings CNDR as a priority meeting for their group of international judges, attorneys, magistrates and members of high courts visiting the San Francisco Bay Area. Launched in 1940, the International Visitor Leadership Program is a professional exchange program that seeks to build mutual understanding between the U.S. and other nations through carefully designed short-term visits to the U.S. for current and emerging foreign leaders.  These visits reflect the International Visitors' professional interests and support the foreign policy goals of the United States. 

This particular program’s objectives include examining the US judicial system within the framework of the federalist model and the separation of powers; promoting an appreciation for the rule of law and the advancement of fair, transparent, accessible and independent judiciaries around the world; learning about the US trial process, court management systems, alternative dispute resolution and mediation and judicial training opportunities; and examining civil and criminal justice systems operating at the federal, state and municipal levels.

Represented countries include Afghanistan, Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Cameroon, Egypt, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Hungary, India, Iraq, Kenya, Macedonia, Malawi, Malaysia, Mexico, Mozambique, Nigeria, Philippines, Poland, South Africa, Sudan, and Turkey.  On November 2^nd Professors Melissa Nelken, Carol Izumi and Adjunct Professor Howard Herman will discuss the use of ADR in the US legal system and will describe academic programs that prepare the next generation of ADR professionals.

Team News 

UC Hastings Negotiation and Mediation Team is off to another fabulous start, after a grueling September that included the Negotiation Boot-Camp, the In School Negotiation Competition and practices for two new competitions the team entered this year.  As has become tradition, around 100 students tried out for the team's 30 openings.  The task of assessing, coaching and judging each of these students is enormous, and we remain deeply grateful to all of our volunteer alumni and practitioners who helped us in this process.  The two new competitions the team entered this Fall were both held in Southern California. 

UC Hastings competed at the inaugural National Sports Law Negotiation Competition, hosted by Thomas Jefferson School of Law in sunny San Diego.  The competition included dinner and refreshments in a private suite at PetCo Park while the Padres played the Dodgers.  The field of 24 teams was diverse, with representation from some of the most prestigious programs in the US, such as NYU, University of Michigan, University of Virginia, UCLA, and Fordham. After two preliminary rounds, and the final round, UC Hastings team Billy Hileman and Kathryn Miller finished in Second Place and Jason Caruso and Tyler Kelly finished in Fourth Place.

The following weekend Head Coach Clint Waasted drove another road trip to Los Angeles where team Hastings competed in the Southwestern Law School Entertainment Law Negotiation Competition.  In a field of 24 teams, including Texas Wesleyan, Fordham and other strong programs, Ike Kaludi and Evan Winet finished in Third Place.  Lisa Aultman, Brooke Barnum-Roberts, Elaine Kuo, and Brooks Harris all finished only 2 points below the cutoff for the final rounds, and the group rallied during finals preparation to make Hastings finals performance a true team effort.

The team is looking forward to two more competitions in November.  A little closer to home, Santa Clara University School of Law will host the ABA Regional Negotiation Competition in the beginning of the month.  Then Hastings flies to Houston, TX to compete for the first time in the Jeffry S. Abrams National Mediator Competition at University of Houston Law Center.

Summer 2012 Institute Dates Set

Building upon CNDR’s very successful 2011 Summer Legal Institute, in which we held our inaugural Court ADR Systems Design Institute, a Negotiating for Advantage CLE, a Mediation Certificate Program and a Intensive Negotiation and Settlement course for J.D. students, we have set dates for our 2012 Summer Legal Institute.  We hope that this will assist you in making plans for the upcoming year.

May 22 – July 3, Tuesdays & Thursdays, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm:  Intensive Negotiation & Settlement, taught by Adjunct Professor and mediator Maria Joseph.  This course is the prerequisite for all of CNDR’s advanced courses and is open to J.D. students from Hastings and other ABA approved law schools.

June 4 – June 9, everyday, 9 am – 5 pm:  40 Hour Mediation Certificate Program, taught by Adjunct Professor and mediator Darshan Brach.  This training will introduce participants to the theory and practice of mediation.  Participants will learn primarily by doing – through skill building and simulation exercises designed to develop the participants’ capacity to resolve conflict.   Instruction will cover the stages of mediation and the art of moving parties from entrenched positions to mutually agreeable solutions.  This course is open to judges, attorneys, court administrators and others interested in developing mediation skills.

June 13 – June 20, Wed-Sat & Mon-Wed, 10 am – 4 pm:  Court ADR Systems Design Institute, taught again by Adjunct Professors Claudia Bernard, Howard Herman and Sheila Purcell.  This course will prepare participants to design and implement court ADR programs in their respective countries.  Participants will be selected from a pool of international applicants and will receive a certificate of completion at the end of the week-long program. Instruction will involve a mixture of theoretical and practical classroom presentations and simulation exercises, as well as opportunities to observe selected court ADR programs in the immediate vicinity of the law school and to meet with ADR judges, practitioners, and scholars from the community.  This course is open to non-U.S. judges, attorneys and court administrators.  More information.

July 23 – August 3, Mon-Fri, 9:30 am – 3:30 pm:  Intensive Negotiation & Settlement, taught by Adjunct Professor Jason Meek.  This course is the prerequisite for all of CNDR’s advanced courses and is open to J.D. students from Hastings and other ABA approved law schools.

CNDR is also happy to report that as a result of last summer’s Court ADR Systems Design Institute, it will be providing a 40 hour mediation certificate program to judges in Spain.  Adjunct Professor and mediator Jessica Notini will present the training in May 2012 in Spanish.

2011 Mediation Week, October 16-22

October has become a time to promote and celebrate peaceful conflict resolution practices worldwide.  Dedicated dispute resolution practitioners are helping to educate the public about mediation and other innovative conflict management processes.  The ABA declared the third week of October, “ABA Mediation Week,”  in part building on the efforts of many other national, state, and local organizations, including the Association for Conflict Resolution www.acrnet.org/crday which have been celebrating conflict resolution during the month of October. The ABA and ACR, as well as numerous other organizations, are working to raise awareness of the importance of mediation and conflict resolution.  CNDR promoted mediation and other forms of ADR this year by tabling on UC Hastings beach during the lunch hour, talking with students and spreading the word about dispute resolution.